Intervals

It starts with a warm-up. We set our bodies in motion for the first time in the day, and our hearts beat quicker and quicker, preparing for the challenge ahead. We know there will be hardship, so we savor this gentle prelude.

When the first interval begins the blinders come on. We shut out thoughts of all the efforts we still have left to do. We grit our teeth and focus 100% on the effort at hand.

You know where you want to be at the end, and all the hard work it will take to get there. But then you have to forget about how much lies ahead and how long it might take. You give your all on the task at hand today.

It hurts and it sucks. But we know that very interval is a battle: what’s easy or what’s good for you. Stopping or continuing. We pick the latter, and we confront the pain with all of our courage and resolve. We hang on till what feels like our furthest limit. We take faith in knowing that reprieve will come.

You work your fingers to the bone on every opportunity that comes your way.

When it does we gather our breath. We rest, we get ready to go again.

You draw strength from the times you hurt like this before, and still survived.

Each interval that we finish; panting, sweating, shoulders heaving, brings us one step closer to completing the goal we set for ourselves. Each one is an accomplishment. And we knock them off, one by one.

We chip away at our goal, day by day.

Until we’re on the final set, then the final effort, and then suddenly, what feels like a lifetime of lessons and an hour later, we are done.

We sit up, wipe the sweat off our faces, catch our breath, spin the legs out. We look up and give thanks to the sky, and to ourselves.

Because the biggest rewards in life come from the challenges you weren’t sure you could complete.

We are grateful for what we’ve achieved.

We are grateful for the day ahead.

We are grateful for every opportunity to prove ourselves capable, resilient and strong.